I am only posting this to shine some light on the matter at hand, not rain on anyones parade.

When I was at the auction in Vegas, there was a 1948 panhead Replica for sale This bike was made entirely out of brand new parts, and looked nice and fresh. It went across the auction block, but didn't get bid past $9,500. It was painted bright red, and still didn't attract enough attention to sell. Please be careful on what you spend your money on, there are plenty of good used original parts out there.

I am only posting this to shine some light on the matter at hand, not rain on anyones parade.

I'd like to see a color pic of a Replica in one of the Barrett Auctions flyers they send us. That'll be the day and it will be one day. Do they let you have an up close look at the motorcycles before they go on the block?Having a 1948 Replica at auction is good news. And someone actually bid $9,500 for it For a motor and transmission that was built by an unknown mechanic That's historic. Did you get to hear it run Was it a relay/timer crankcase Thanks for bringing this gem of info back with you. It's good news.Whadaya know ..a repop '48 finally made it to auction. It won't be the last one, I reckon. I can foresee somebody building a name from building people rolling stock kits. Then when one rolls out at auction with this builders signature motor and transmission, you'll see prices start to rise. Barrett auction is where it's at for kit-built exposure. http://stettsironhorseranch.com/ They'll be Stett-bilt for customers and owner-auctioned, (or whose another name motor builder ..Berry Wardlaw from Accurate kit-creations)... because it's happening now. Some people want bobbers- built to spec. Ours will run and and have an MSO, but will not be California legal or registered. Buyer takes it home and special titles it. Motor and transmission are guaranteed which is an auction extra. Why is the AMCA teaming up with V-Twin and advertising in the back of the '08 catalog What does the AMCA have in common with V-Twin Parts? How many parts? One part, two parts, or 1200 parts. At what point is too many parts too much? Dr. Dick is going to Rhinebeck with a camera and visit the V-Twin exhibit. That should be a good meet, if they fire a Bantam Weight Knuckle up and ride it. We're getting closer to a replica industry. IMO, the AMCA would be better off having a classification for Replica, than try to ignore them, because Replica is here to stay and it's only going to get better. There's a finite amount of OEM parts still available, and much time spent procuring the parts to build. That's fine for many. But others want to buy the parts from a catalog/online without an ebay-auction (angst & drain) on the daily mental ram allotment. Real gas tanks are $1,700.00 to 2,500.00 + if you can find them or win them on ebay. Replica gas tanks will only cost a third or more of that. Replication will make the hobby affordable. Restoration seems to have more onlookers and appreciators than people actually involved in building something to ride, imo. General interest in early OHV motorcycles can be kept alive if more people are actually building them. Replica. I'd like to locate (email works!) the person that owns that Red 1948 and ask him some questions.Houston - 1957 - W.D. Schoenfeldt - Age 13 - Replicator of Mustang Motorcycles. Later on, he was an X class flat-tracker and rode a K Model for Harley-Davidson® before changing to ride for Triumph®. I saw a pic of a yellow and white WL he restored in Colorado in 2000 that was later featured in one of the first Barrett auctions. Dennis was a friend of Branch. He gave me an original Harley-Davidson KH intake manifold blueprint, which I gave to Anders Nygren, who was going to manufacturer them. The story ends there.

Last edited by Plumber on Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:54 pm, edited 4 times in total.

very interesting thread. There is a lot of controversy over here about replica bikes. There is one Brough Superior in particular, lovely piece of work, which no-one will acept; which is a shame because it's a beautiful machine

A lot of 'restorations' are really best regarded as "replicas incorporating parts from the original machine or machines". That's not knocking them, if someone has gone to the trouble fair play to him. More machines is the first priority . But yes, I agree, replication will keep the whole sector alive once the collectors and investors have made the genuine OEM machine unaffordable, and anno domini has made them unusable for normal use

Shoot, a man could have a good weekend in Dallas with all that stuff...